stinger

[ sting-er ]

/ ˈstɪŋ ər /

noun

a person or thing that stings.

an animal or plant having a stinging organ.

the sting or stinging organ of an insect or other animal.

Informal. a stinging blow, remark, or the like.

a cocktail made of brandy and crème de menthe.

(initial capital letter) Military. a U.S. Army shoulder-launched, heat-seeking antiaircraft missile, with a range of 3 miles (5 km).

British Informal. a highball of whiskey and soda.

Nearby words

stimulus sensitive myoclonus, stimy, stine, sting, stingaree, stinger, stinging capsule, stinging hair, stinging nettle, stinging tree, stingless bee

Origin of stinger

First recorded in 1545–55; sting + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stinger

The nose—as anyone knows who ever has received a stinger from an errant baseball—has countless pain fibers.
The Writhing, Miserable Reality of Force Feeding at Guantánamo Bay|Kent Sepkowitz|May 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
“Certain weapons like Stinger missiles are extremely hard to control once they are transferred,” he said.
Syrian Opposition Leaders: We Need U.S. Weapons|Eli Lake|July 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Jim took out the Stinger, smashed the planes and got a fall which was not very serious.
The Streets of Ascalon|Robert W. Chambers
The attacker's abdomen curved beneath its own body; the stinger jabbed between two segments of the prey's jointed length.
They Twinkled Like Jewels|Philip Jos Farmer

A tactful man can pull the stinger from a bee without getting stung.
Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son|George Horace Lorimer
Showed him how to play Canfield and Russian bank and gave him the prescription for mixing a Hartford stinger.
Torchy As A Pa|Sewell Ford
The Harn pulled in all its mobile units, including the stinger it had left at the hole into the other world.
Cat and Mouse|Ralph Williams

British Dictionary definitions for stinger (1 of 2)

Stinger

/ (ˈstɪŋə) /

noun

trademark a device, consisting of a long track of raised spikes, laid across a road by police to puncture the tyres of escaping vehicles

British Dictionary definitions for stinger (2 of 2)

stinger

/ (ˈstɪŋə) /

noun

a person, plant, animal, etc, that stings or hurts

Australian any marine creature that stings its victims, esp the box jellyfish

Also: stengah a whisky and soda with crushed ice

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012